


Wit

by Longlivemystories



Series: Fallout [5]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Suggested trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-22 00:01:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11368389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longlivemystories/pseuds/Longlivemystories





	Wit

Natalie was downright silent all the live long day, every day, every week and so on and so forth. Everyone thought her mute, to be honest. But Nick knew that simply wasn’t the case.

One night they’d been working on blue-prints for a new house to put in Sanctuary, as Natalie was the type to plan and gather the resources necessary first and then started building. She’d rushed through the first week in Sanctuary, making sure everyone had at least a bed to sleep on, however now that there was a little more time for luxury, she wanted everything to look nice. She felt that less clutter physically meant less clutter mentally and even that less clutter meant less depression, too.

Nick did all the talking, of course, mostly to himself as they worked. Neither were very good at drawing, but basic shapes they could manage and that’s what they did. Nick, however, saw that Natalie seemed to be almost falling asleep at the table they worked at. He small smile graced his lips and he leaned over to look over at her better.

"You feelin’ tired there, doll?“

She sat up straighter than she had been and rubbed her eyes before shaking her head. She tried to started drawing once more, however the pencil ended up just slipping from her hand, startling her awake when it clattered to the table. She looked up at Nick apologetically, finally standing now and yawning deeply.

"It’s been a long day,” he agreed gently, allowing the sleepy survivor to hook her arm around his and carefully walked her to the stairs.

The synth guided her gingerly up the stairs, stopping for a moment when she almost fell asleep on the stairwell. He gave up on walking her to his room and simply lifted her up bridal-style. Admittedly, the act startled Natalie, but she was too sleepy to care for too long. Once the survivor was all tucked in and ready for sleep, Nick stood to head back downstairs when she took his hand. He looked back down at her, seeming a little surprised.

"Somethin’ wrong?“

She looked at him carefully for a few moments before gently pulling on his hand, prompting him to sit back down on the bed.

"My mom… never liked it when I talked,” she murmured faintly, surprising the detective even more.

"Why’s that?“

"I… never knew,” she admitted sleepily, keeping ahold of his hand as she let her eyelids slide shut. “She… would shut me in the broom closet if I spoke… So I never spoke…”

"Until now,“ he pointed out, trying to be a little playful to lighten up the mood. "Not that I’m not grateful, but why is it me you’re telling, doll?”

"Because… I trust you… and love you…“ she murmured softly.

Nick started to say something, though stopped himself when he noticed how even her breath was. He let out a soft sigh and just smiled to himself.

"Me too,” he mumbled gently, leaning down and lightly kissing her forehead.

 

Natalie went to bars as much as she talked and Nick knew this to be fact. However, this case called for it and she followed silently behind the synth as he went inside. She spent a lot of her time with him, especially when she woke up the morning after and they were curled up to each other on his bed.

"Ya know you don’t have to come in if you don’t want to,“ he mumbled to her lowly, watching, gauging her facial features careful. A single hint of distress and he’d turn right around and take her back outside.

She shook her head, offering him a faint smile. He waited a little longer, before just smiling back and continued on.

"Why don’t you wait here, doll,” he suggested, motioning to the somewhat empty part of the bar. “You shouldn’t be bothered here.”

Natalie nodded in agreement and sat on one of the few chairs placed in the corner, probably more for storage than anything. Natalie never drank and she strongly detested alcohol in every sense. She’d told Nick when they were laying together one night, out of the blue just like before, that her mother drank a lot. Nick had gingerly suggested that maybe her alcoholism was what made her do the things she did and Natalie just shrugged. To her, it didn’t matter any more. She was more interested in learning from the past than trying to really dissect it. All the survivor knew was that she wasn’t her mother, but she still stayed far away from alcohol, anyways, fearful of instantly becoming an alcoholic if she drank. Drunk people in general scared her at times, even though she knew that not all alcoholics were bad people.

Nick went up to the bar and leaned a hip against it and he quietly started talking to the bartender, keeping his voice low. He was writing some stuff down and unfortunately his attention was too focused on the bartender. It wasn’t until he heard some drunken, loud man saying something about some beautiful girl with dorky glasses that he looked up quickly from his writing, eyes narrowing in annoyance when he saw two men, one large and the other somewhat smaller. They were leaning over Natalie, who was scrunched down in her chair, clearly uncomfortable.

"Could you excuse me for a moment? Thank you…“

The detective made his way over to the corner, making himself seem a little bit taller.

"Is there a problem here?” he inquired, looking between the two men.

"Huh? What’s it to ya?“ growled the smaller man.

"This is my friend you’re bothering here,” Nick responded. “My girlfriend to be more exact.”

"Yeah right. She’s way more interested in us because we’re hotter,“ laughed the larger man, winking down at Natalie, who just shrunk down even more.

"Hm, that’s funny, because my diagnostics say that she’s not interested,” Nick snarled, shoving between the two large men and gently taking Natalie’s hand. She seemed so grateful that he was there and she kept close to his body.

The men started to come at them, however the bartender stepped in, handing Nick a slip of paper before turning back to the other two, clearly unimpressed with the disruption in his bar. Nick and Natalie quickly left. The detective lead her straight to the detective agency, holding her hand tightly and not saying a word the entire time. Natalie felt so ashamed of the whole thing and she wanted to say something, but her voice just wasn’t working again.

When they returned, Nick closed the door behind her and was silent for a few moments before just pulling her into a tight hug. Natalie was somewhat surprised, though hugged back tentatively.

"I’m sorry…“ she finally murmured quietly, face buried into his chest.

"No, I’m sorry, doll,” he sighed softly. “I shouldn’t have had you go in there,” he mumbled into her hair.

She offered him a soft smile. “Thank you…”

He just grinned lightly down at her. “No, you see, it’s I who should be thanking you. And I know just the way.”


End file.
